Gem in the Underground
by Stoto
Summary: When a little noble girls stumbles into the Underground nothing good will hapen to her. Unless a thug who grew up in this hell saves her. (Levi x OC) short Oneshot - Rated T for language and mild violence
Tiny feet clad in expensive leather shoes hurried down the 12th staircase. The blue eyes of the toddler darted around in awe. Rosa Mathis, child of a noble living in Mitras, had discovered the unguarded staircase in the middle of a huge commotion and curiosity had guided her down the stone steps. Fear had yet to grab hold of her as she took in all the different impressions. Her feet soon met with the dirty ground and Rosa halted for a moment.

Without paying it much mind, she simply took off in a random direction. Her simple mind didn't consider her parents' horror or what could possibly happen in the shady Underground. To a toddler it was a city like any other minus the clear blue sky.

Rosa aimlessly walked around, gawking at everything. She didn't notice the people looking strangely at her. She looked out of place to say the least. Her long blue skirt had been dirtied at the seam and her pristine white blouse was wrinkled from being clawed by excited little hands. Her rose hair barely touched her shoulders yet it was braided gracefully.

Paying no mind to her way, she turned a corner and found herself in an alley darker than the rest of the city under her home. Her tiny body collided with something hard and Rosa fell backwards with a yelp. She slowly opened her eyes which she had closed out of reflex and looked up into the frightening face of a man three times her size.

"I'm sorry, sir."

Her whisper was unusually calm for a child.

"What do we have here?"

The hollering voice of the man she had bumped into had a strange tone to it Rosa couldn't quite comprehend.

"Look at this fancy little worm!"

A man Rosa hadn't seen until now bellowed and harshly pulled her up by her arm. Rosa, who had been calm until now cried out in pain.

"Y-You're hurting me. Please let go..."

She quietly begged as if too scared to speak up. The men, four of them as she could make out through her tears laughed loudly, the sound deafening to her sensitive ears.

"The lad herself is pretty and exotic. Look at her hair, she's worth more than those clothes. Just imagine how much those rich bastards will pay for such a gem!"

Rosa didn't understand what they were talking about. Sell her? Did they mistake her for bread or something? Fear and pain made it impossible for Rosa to speak up.

"What are you filthy bastards doing with that little girl?"

A new voice joined what was going on. The men halted in their excitement to look at a small teen standing in the alley.

"Get lost, you midget! This is none of your business!"

The teen clicked his tongue in annoyance. He didn't particularly like children but he wouldn't stand idly by as those men were attempting to use this girl as if she were goods.

"I'd tell you to fight someone your fucking size but since that's so damn cliché, I'll just tell you to back off or face the consequences."

The men laughed out loudly again, causing Rosa to close her eyes in pain. The man holding her shook his arm and yanked the toddler around in the process. Rosa now screamed in pain and started crying violently. Levi snapped at this, moving quickly. In the blink of an eye, three out of four were out cold. The last one, still holding onto the girl, watched in horror.

"F-Fine! T-Take her but spare me!"

The man carelessly threw the girl at Levi. He caught her without much effort and quickly put her down on the floor before knocking the last man out with a kick to the head. Levi then turned around, picked the sobbing mess of a toddler up and walked out of the alley filled with bleeding men moaning in pain.

As he walked through the streets, he didn't bother calming the girl down. He wasn't a babysitter after all. Thankfully, the girl quickly calmed down, holding onto her bruised wrist and resting her little head on Levi's shoulder. He felt tears and snot dirty his shirt but for now he didn't mind.

"Thank you for saving me, sir. I'm Rosa Mathis. Who are you?"

Her sudden voice ripped him out of his thoughts. He looked down at her, almost gasping as his steel eyes looked into her bright blue one. Even after such a traumatizing experience they held nothing but childish innocence and joy.

In that very moment, Levi swore to protect this girl with everything he had.

"I'm Levi."


End file.
